


The First Two Weeks

by scifinut



Category: Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-02
Updated: 2009-09-02
Packaged: 2017-10-23 12:56:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/250532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifinut/pseuds/scifinut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tommy must have seen Jack over the years. One day he finally realizes that Jack isn't aging either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Two Weeks

Tommy woke up to see everyone around him. There was Gerald and Harriet who had brought him here from the hospital, there was Melissa the doctor, and there was Jack. Jack, who was so different than everyone else. He had promised Tommy personally that he'd look after him. Tommy had thought it odd at the time, but there had been so much to take in all at once. Now, though, he was awake and answering questions. Then it was a day out on the town before returning to a frozen, dreamless sleep.

The second day was much like the first for Tommy. The city was the same when he got escorted around, but everyone kept him away from news sources and wouldn't answer any questions about the war or his family. On one hand he understood their reasoning, but his curiosity was nearly overwhelming. He was certain that things had gone poorly and everyone was dead. Even with the drugs, Tommy cried himself to sleep.

In the days that followed, things settled into somewhat of a routine. He would wake up, answer some basic questions about himself, and then have blood drawn for some sort of reason or another. He would then have a chance to change into some new clothes and be taken around Cardiff for a lovely day. Every day to him was a special event after a morning of hell. He saw the city change slowly around him. Fashions changed, and the members of Torchwood grew older and left, more came in to fill the holes. Only Jack remained unchanged.

It was 1932 before Tommy got the courage to ask about it. He asked Sarah, the doctor at the time, if Jack could escort him out for the day. He waited patiently for his outfit to change into and then for the handsome American to come take him to see the world anew.

Jack took him to a new cafe that had opened within the past week. They sat, looking at across the table at each other. "You probably have a few questions," Jack began. Tommy nodded silently. Jack sighed. "I'm still waiting for some answers myself. But go ahead and ask anything you want. Trust me, I won't be offended."

Tommy took a drink of his beer then took a breath to gather courage. "Are you...a machine of some sort?"

Jack laughed, it was sudden enough to startle Tommy. "No," he said. "I am very much a human, just as much as you are." There was a note of sadness in his voice.

"You can't be. You look just the same as you did when I came in. Everybody else has changed, aged or left or died." Tommy shook his head.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we're more similar than not." Jack wasn't going to offer technical information to Tommy or explain his immortality unless the other man asked. It was too much for someone to take in, especially when the someone in question was only associated with Torchwood by necessity and didn't have any of the information most Torchwood members had.

"It's been fourteen years." Tommy's voice had a harder edge to it. Gone was the shock and surprise of seconds before. "You haven't aged a day."

"Neither have you," Jack countered.

"Yes, but you don't spend most of the year in cold storage."

"You don't know a thing about me," Jack replied calmly.

Tommy took a long drink of his beer. "Maybe that's a good thing."

Jack matched Tommy's drink with one of his own. "Maybe it is."

The rest of the day was spent in relative silence. Jack simply followed Tommy around the city until it was time to return to the Hub. For the first time since being brought to Torchwood, Tommy felt absolutely alone, separated from anyone he had ever known or would ever meet again.


End file.
